9 Investigates: State law has judge dismiss charges if defendant mentally ill

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A suspected murderer hasn't gone to trial three years after he was charged with killing his cousin in south Charlotte.

Derek Ward has spent that time in mental hospitals.

This month a judge will determine if he's mentally able to stand trial. If not, the charges could be dismissed.

Seven and a half years after his friends were killed, store owner Robert Taylor is still looking for justice. Don and Sue Barker owned a country store north of Statesville.

"It was a senseless killing," Taylor said.

Deputies arrested an unlikely suspect, 65-year-old Barbara Evans. She was charged with killing the Barkers and James and Ruth Powell.

Three years later, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Evans after a judge found her incapable of standing trial. The judge ruled Evans had dementia and was progressively deteriorating and was not likely to recover.

"It just don't make no sense," Taylor said. "Because I've said it's no justice for the family."

They are not alone.

A new state law says a judge must dismiss the charges if a defendant might never be mentally able to go to trial.

"I can certainly see from the victims and the families of victims that can be extremely difficult," said Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray.

Murray knows it may look like someone has gotten away with a crime, even though most of the mentally ill defendants, like Evans, are sent to state mental hospitals.

A shift to more outpatient care has cut the number of beds in the state hospitals from 1,750 in 2001 to 850 in 2012. Murray is concerned that sending more criminal defendants to the hospitals will put pressure to let other patients out.

"You have someone who's committed a violent and heinous act and the hospital decides they're no longer a threat to themselves or others and they're out the door. Door to where?" Murray said.

"And then the question is, where do those people go? Do they get the care they deserve?" asked public defender Kevin Tully.

Tully also worries that the shortage of mental health beds is forcing tough choices.

"You would at least hope that doctors are making appropriate assessments, not just of competency but of risk to public safety," Tully said.

Evans may never be a threat again. If she's ever able to stand trial, detectives said they are ready to refile murder charges.

It doesn't make it any easier for the people at Barkers' old store where a poster is a constant reminder.

"This is the reward poster put up right after the murder looking for any new information," Taylor said, pointing to the sign.

"Why do you still have it up?" Eyewitness News asked.

"Because there was no closure to it," Taylor responded.

WSOC